Oh yeah, it was intriguing. BTW, OOC I have no problem with what happened to the guy. IC, Bilon is confused abut how rapidly Kriv swings from side to side. And realizes how similar he is. Bilon is having to think about his moral compass a bit. Great job.

Yeah it was a bit of a combination of heat of the moment, tough battle, constant denigration and knowing we needed to keep moving forward. Paragon's of Justice aren't perfect.

Don't forget I grabbed the Goliath's hammer...no clue if it is anything special, but he was hitting pretty dang hard with it.

Whoops. Didn't hear you mention that. Yep, it is enchanted. Ryla assists you in identifying it while Jett harvests the remains of the elemental.

"Oh, I think we've got a winner here," says the mage with a grin, eyes literally aglow as she examines the hammer. "Yes, this will do nicely."

Spoiler for Hiden:

Earthstrike's Mallet (Counts as Mighty Dwarven Thrower - Level 20 - rare)Legend says that King Toad Earthstrike killed many a Forgotten Beast with this mighty hammer. Encircled with bands of jade and inexplicably engraved with the likeness of a dwarf being swallowed by a giant rainbow trout, this deadly steel weapon was once feared by giants throughout the world. It was long thought lost after the King had a particularly Fun night in the mines beneath his fortress.

+4, 125,000 gp, Weapon: HammerEnhancement Bonus: Attack rolls and damage rollsCritical: +1d6 damage per plus, or +1d12 damage per plus against Large or larger humanoidProperty: You gain an item bonus to damage rolls against Large or larger humanoids. The bonus equals 2 + the weapon’s enhancement bonus.

Attack Power - Encounter- (Standard Action)Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature). You throw the weapon but make a melee basic attack against the target. On a hit, the target also falls prone. After the attack, the weapon returns to your hand.

Utility Power Daily (Free Action)Trigger: You hit a creature adjacent to you with this weapon.Effect: The creature is dazed (save ends).

Quote from: Arkon on July 13, 2012, 12:46:59 AM

Do we see actual flames?

No, no flames. Just black smoke in the one window.

After she's done identifying the hammer, Ryla takes a long look at the House.

"Well, that's quite devious," she says, " I wish I would have thought of it." She goes on to explain that she thinks the window with the smoke, and perhaps some of the other windows on the building's exterior, are not actually there. However, she's not sure if the purpose of the illusion is to actually misrepresent what is on the inside of the building. "I'm not quite certain if the spell is providing a false look inside the House, if it is simply making the wall transparent, or some combination of the two. It's actually a rather intriguing security measure. At the very least, it must give potential thieves absolute fits."

"An illusion? On the entire building? That...is an impressive bit of magick, even by my standards. If we are to go inside once I'm done, we must do so carefully. Who knows what illusions and tricks could be layered within."

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"Well, then," says Ryla as she climbs the stairs to the House, "Let's chase this droll little badger out of his hole."

She goes to place a hand on one of the large double doors. Before she can do so, a brief but blinding pulse of white light envelops the mage. As you blink the sight back into your eyes, Ryla's appearance seems slightly different. Her clothes look a bit more worn and her face looks a bit more aged.

"Drat," she exclaims, examining her hands. "An illusion ward! Haven't seen one of those in ages! I don't know if I should be impressed or appalled!"

"Perhaps a bit of care is in order here, gentlemen," asks Ryla as she returns back down the stairs. "It seems our badger relies on more than ballistas and brutes to guard his home. "

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I think its only function is to dispel illusions. Strange thing to keep on the exterior of the building like this...unless whoever is inside is afraid of meeting people who aren't in their true form for whatever reason.

It should be harmless. Unless one of us are not what we seem to be.

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Lightning ScimitarLvl 20, +4, 125,000 gp, Enhancement Bonus: attack rolls and damage rolls,Critical: +4d6 lightning damage.Power (Lightning) (Free Action)All damage dealt by this weapon is lightning damage. Another free action returns the damage to normal.Power (Lightning) Daily (Free Action)Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target and each enemy within 2 squares of the target take 2d6 lightning damage.

What does the party do next?

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To perform the Raise Dead ritual, you must have a part of the corpse of a creature that died no more than 30 days ago. You apply mystic salves, then pray to the gods to restore the dead creature’s life. The subject returns to life as if he or she had taken an extended rest. The subject is freed of any temporary conditions suffered at death, but permanent conditions remain.The subject returns with a death penalty: –1 to all attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and ability checks. This death penalty fades after the subject reaches three milestones.You can’t restore life to a creature that has been petrified or to a creature that died of old age.The subject’s soul must be free and willing to return to life. Some magical effects trap the soul and thus prevent Raise Dead from working, and the gods can intervene to prevent a soul from journeying back to the realm of the living. In all cases, death is less inclined to return paragon (that's what Ryla is) and epic heroes; the component cost is 5,000 gp for paragon tier characters and 50,000 gp for epic tier characters.

This ritual is performed on an adjacent corpse. It quintuples the time the corpse can lie dead and still be affected by Raise Dead or a similar ritual. Gentle Repose also protects the corpse from being raised as an undead creature for 150 days.

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Unless we're certain on the whereabouts of the local Miracle Max franchise, I think we should do Gentle Repose to make sure Ryla doesn't decay past Mostly Dead.

We could also bring in a local druid or something to see if this living house phenomenon could be adapted to create living walls to help protect the city. Self-repairing ramparts could increase our Total War Assets by upwards of forty points!

Unless we're certain on the whereabouts of the local Miracle Max franchise, I think we should do Gentle Repose to make sure Ryla doesn't decay past Mostly Dead.

We could also bring in a local druid or something to see if this living house phenomenon could be adapted to create living walls to help protect the city. Self-repairing ramparts could increase our Total War Assets by upwards of forty points!

-Autistic Angel

Humor bits aside, I agree with both parts for sure. Ryla is way too important to lose, especially to a bunch of nobodies like how she died. And this very strange house tree thing could be quite useful for someone who isn't as just plain strange as that Gnome was.

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While it may not be the safest option...I am actually voting on resting here in the house of coin, and performing the ritual here...perhaps we could barricade ourselves into one of the rooms. My concern with going back to Fort Scale is we could absolutely devastate/ruin troop morale if we go marching back in to Fort Scale with a deceased Ryla. All of these troops are here, following Ryla, not us. It could break our army and lead to us loosing Scaleport.

While it may not be the safest option...I am actually voting on resting here in the house of coin, and performing the ritual here...perhaps we could barricade ourselves into one of the rooms. My concern with going back to Fort Scale is we could absolutely devastate/ruin troop morale if we go marching back in to Fort Scale with a deceased Ryla. All of these troops are here, following Ryla, not us. It could break our army and lead to us loosing Scaleport.

Quote from: Destructor on August 02, 2012, 07:43:28 PM

Arkon makes a very good point. As much as Jett wouldn't want to sleep here...it's by far the better option.

The gnome-sized bedroom seems the most defensible (and most comfortable!) room. The party secures themselves inside, barricading the doors as best they're able, while Bilon begins to call upon the power of Avandra to resurrect your fallen comrade. Hours pass as the cleric chants, imploring his divine patron to free Ryla's soul from the grip of the Shadowfell. Morning gives way to afternoon. The group keeps watch in shifts on the courtyard below through one of the House's small, strange windows, and spots no activity.

As Bilon continues his prayers and Kriv takes his turn on watch, Jett sits up with a start. Someone is attempting to locate him using some sort of psionic energy, but Jett is sure that he remains hidden so far. It is likely that the anti-scrying runes the party spotted on the courtyard wall are creating interference. Jett feels the psionic power rapidly fading, but an image quickly flashes through the wizards mind: A blue-crystal shardmind, sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the pit that serves as the entrance to the mines of Crater Town, home of the Stone Crows.

Jett thinks he can momentarily disrupt the runes preventing the connection from being established. Alternatively, he can let the connection fade.

Bilon will need another 4 hours until the ritual of resurrection is complete.

What do you do?

Jett- Arcana 20 + 20 = 40! Critical success!

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So we can either talk to the shardmind, and in the process let him know about Ryla's condition (as well as ours, and possibly get some information out of it in the process overall), or act like nothing has happened, let the connection fade, and try to 'call back' at a better time (how, of course, is then the question, as I don't think we have any sort of scrying bits handy on our party).

Decisions decisions...

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Jett warns the others of what he's doing before he exerts his magic to disable the anti-scrying runes scattered across the courtyard. He has a bad feeling about the message he's about to hear.

Jett's eyes begin to glow with a bright, blue light as Amehez's mind reaches his own:

"... IS AMEHEZ. MUST BE BRIEF. MAY BE MONITORED. EMPIRE FORCES ABANDONED FORT ERECTED ON CROW TERRITORY THREE DAYS PAST, NOW MOVING SOUTH WEST. 150 WARRIORS. WE HARRY THEM AS WE ARE ABLE, BUT CAN NOT STOP THEM.

"HAVE HEARD RUMORS OF RECENT EVENTS AT SCALEPORT. SUSPECTED GIANTSLAYER'S INVOLVEMENT. UNABLE TO LOCATE RANGRIM. AM GLAD TO HAVE FOUND YOU ALIVE.

"ATTEMPT NO RESPONSE."

With that, the Jett's eyes return to normal and the voice leaves his mind.

Quote from: Arnir on August 07, 2012, 08:28:30 PM

"Ryla, go into the light. Into the light...., no not that light."

What will Bilon's condition be when he is done with the ritual? Will he be combat effective?

Bilon will be unrested upon completion of the ritual. He'll need six hours of relative inactivity after the ritual is complete to gain the benefits of an extended rest.

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